Instead of making our way over the kind Princess Celestia teleported us in front of a large, circular building. Kinda looks important.

The Princess's arrival immediately caught everyponies attention. Citizens bowing and the hoofful of Guards saluting with... *sigh* gold armor. My hoof meets my face, it's already looking terrible for them. I'll enjoy watching their reactions to our inspection so I refrain from saying anything. My team doing the same, I already see the humor in X's eyes.

Many ponies go to greet her, kiss her flank or whatever but I'll never know since they froze at the sight of us. Thankfully Celestia sees this and speaks up before and hasty accusations could be made, just in time too I saw the Guards readying their... hehehe gold spears.

"Do not fear my subjects!" She exclaims while flaring her wings, looking very regal. "They are my guests and are here on my behest! Please come meet them!" She tells them, the Guards never even fully readied their spears 'Too slow too' I think.

At the reassurance of their Princess any fear radiating from the crowd immediately disappears, so quickly I have to actually search for it. Changelings sensing emotions is very advantageous but sometimes it backfires. Like how my quick head turns makes many ponies look at me strangely. Damn it.

After a few seconds of hesitance, ponies suddenly flooded us, asking many questions. 'What's your name?' 'What are you wearing?' 'What are those things on your back?' Only being few of the many questions that I DID understand. Looking for the only Equestrians I did know, I turned multiple times and had even jumped twice. I saw that X and Scrapper were in similar positions, swarmed by many ponies. But despite my attempts to find them, I couldn't so I gave up. 'They threw us to the mob!' I thought with a mental laugh.

After escaping the mob of curious ponies we decided to go to the important looking building. Upon entering we found nopony, so we decided to at least try to find out what purpose this building served. There was a desk at the left, end side of the hall. A little name stand was upon the otherwise clean dark wooden desk. 'Secretary Paper Weight' was etched upon it. 'Secretary?' I thought. Looking to a pair of double-doors behind and a bit to the side of the desk, I see a little long piece of metal. It reads 'Mayor Mayor Mares Office' this stumped me a bit. 'Is her name Mayor Mare or was it a mistake?" I think on this for a second before just shrugging and turning away from the doors.

Regrouping in the center on the building we report what we've found. X found a meeting room with 'budget' written on a black board and Scrapper found an 'available jobs' board, He told us they seemed all local and had something to do with farming. I tell them of the secretary desk and the 'Mayor Mayor' office. I am proud to say that I got two head tilts.

"Town hall?" X asks.

"Town hall" Scrapper and I confirm at the same time.

Making our way out we look for something out of the ordinary among the near identical wood-and-starch houses.

"Hey uh... am I on something or is that a gingerbread house?" I ask whilst pointing towards a candied building.

They turn and see it immediately. "Nope. I see it too" X confirms for me. Scrapper just nods.

"So we going there?" I ask straight after. They both gave nods this time still eyeing it.

The trip there was quick. It was definitely a building. The sign that hung it read 'Sugar cube Corner'. 'Nice name' I thought to myself.

Before entering a wave of emotions hits me. There's ponies in there and the lights are off. 'Idea'

"Hey X you wanna be first? I was first last time" I offer him, he gives me a strange look but nods. Opening the door, the exact thing I expected happened when the lights flicked on.

"SURPRISE!!!" The party goers yell out.

I heard a table get kicked over, a bunch of glass break and a chorus of gasps sound out. 'On second thought letting a battle-hardened survivor unknowingly trot into a surprise party was a bad idea' The head turn I received from Scrapper only confirmed my thought.

Wither-charging the door to hopefully disarm this potentially dangerous situation as quickly as possible. I assess the situation I willingly placed myself into. Many ponies, adult and foal, are cramped into the lobby and are all looking towards the knocked over table with broken glass, spilled punch and spoiled treats of many different varieties with many different emotions swirling in the crowd. Surprise, Fear and a touch of Anger. Behind said table is X with his head in his hooves, he's shameful and embarrassed it's so thick I can taste it. Because I can. Before I apologize for him and explain one thought crosses my mind. 'This is my fault' I think angrily, upset at myself for putting my brother into such a state.

"Everypony! The surprise party is greatly appreciated but uh... Surprises don't normally go down well with battle-hardened ponies such as myself and my brother! He just reacted the way we normally would when surprised because if you are surprised where we come from it is usually done with the intent of causing you great pain!" I explain to them. The fear thankfully resides and is replaced by curiosity but that small amount of anger remains.

I turn and see a helmet-less Scrapper talking to X, he sees me and nods, telling me he'll handle him. I nod back and trot into the group of ponies. Feeling much better but still upset with myself.

I find a snack table and quickly dismiss it. Changelings don't need food but I start looking for some kind of fluid as I still need water of some form.

Finding a table with a punch bowl I grab an empty glass with hoof and struggle a bit with filling it, not daring move my wings as they're on display but blend in with my brown coat.

"Hey Hunter!" A scratchy voice calls to me. Turning towards it I see Rainbow Dash, the other Bearers and my Brothers all sitting in a cubical. Upon seeing my friends I make my way over.

"Nice speech" She compliments. I look to her and thank her "It wasn't planned but I had to do something" I respond to her.

"Yeah I would've done something if you didn't say anything. Hey you didn't make it worse for a change!" She points out with a laugh that was followed by others.

This time Twilight speaks up. "Talking about what happened. Why in the hay would you kick over a table?!?" She turns and asks- no she turns and interrogates him, the whole table turns to him. I think even a few bystanders listened in.

"Well when Root are trying to kill you. You take what you can get when it comes to putting a barrier between them and you" He explains, the bystanders get both confused and concerned at the words 'root' and 'kill' but everypony at the table nods along, already knowing why.

It's at this point where conversation picks up, things like 'Why is there a party?' and 'What things are there to do in town?' but as the conversation goes along everypony in the room suddenly turns to the door, gasps and then promptly fills their mouths full of floor boards.

Princess Celestia waves them off, spots our little group and trots over. Everypony at the table, except the Remnants, bow in their seats.

This gets confused looks from everypony present with the exception of Celestia herself who looks even more happily at us than usual. It's also radiating from her and it quickly spiked at our inaction.

"Girls, Remnants" She greets casually us. This actually shocks everypony, yet again except us, they mustn't see their ruler act casual.

"I'd like you all to come to view the Royal Guard inspection the Remnants are going to conduct" She states, inviting everypony to said inspection, putting pressure on us. 'If she's as clever as I think she is, then this is a test for us as well. Put pressure on us and see if we do well' I think. I don't know her at all but if she's a ruler of a nation this bright and colorful then she either just inherited the throne or is more wise than I take her for.

Making our way back to the Town Hall as Celestia tells us of tell uniform obligations of the Royal Guard. Polished armor, sharpened and polished weapon, physically fit and well groomed manes and coats. We see Princess Luna, this time in regalia, standing in front of a 6-by-6 formation with two... Officers? On both front sides of guards. Two for each flavor of Guard. One covered in clear, shiny gold and the other a deep purple, just as shiny metal. Just as shiny as gold? Either highly polished steel/iron or just recolored gold. I sure as shit hope it's steel.

The crowd filters out around us, joining the crowd already present as the Bearers, Remnants and other Princess march to the front.

"This is the group of our finest Guards. They are all highly decorated but didn't bring them as they weren't aware this was an inspection" Princess Luna states looking proud before quickly adding "The left is the Solar Guard and right is the Lunar Guard"

A Solar Guard officer steps forward and addresses them. "Princess Celestia, we were not informed this was an inspection. What is the meaning of this?" He demands in a high society tone. Self-importance. I don't like it one bit.

X doesn't either, he's the most knowledgeable about this stuff having read the book about military that collects dust in the Ward. "You were not spoken to officer return to your position and do not, I repeat DO NOT. Address your superiors like that!" He sneers at him but this only gets the officer angry.

"Who are you to speak to me like that civilian? And what are you doing in the presence of a Princess and the best detachment or Royal Guard looking like that? You are a disgrace!" He retorts but unfortunately for him he ignored Luna and upset Celestia. Princesses. Big ouch.

"Corporal Rising Star!" Celestia roared. "You are in the presence of BOTH Princesses of Equestria, the Bearers of the Element of Harmony and three of your new advisors and you DARE speak out of turn? Return to your position!"

The officer is startled at her yelling at HIM and tries to push his point I assume, be he never got to. "But Princess-"

"Return. To. Your. Position." She reaffirms.

He whimpers and does so taking his position in the formation, front right on the outside of the formation. Standing alongside his fellow Guard officer? Corporal? Whatever. Both white unicorns. Why's it always white unicorns that think highly of themselves?

My brothers and I turn our heads to Celestia as she shake her head.

"Let the inspection begin" He calls out and the Guards go rigid.

Our heads snap to them as we give them our full attention as start we slowly trotting over. They don't even breathe as we approach. Without speaking X takes the Solar Guard side as Scrapper takes the Lunar. Me? I go straight to the middle. This silent action causes surprise and wonder to fill my senses.

The front pair of Guards look impressive, knowing the gold is worthless for protection and damage they already fail for me, so I simply look at how they present themselves at what would be usual Guard duty. I didn't like what I saw, at all.

The front pair are impressive looking yes. Well polished armor and slightly muscular but as we Remnants all pass the first pairs worry enters my senses, a lot of it, guess they don't get thoroughly inspected, and we all do this, yet again, in sync.

The next pair are less impressive. Armor looking less polished, weapon too, less fit and their coats and manes look less cared for.

We all simultaneously pass them again, moving to the third row. Half way though.

The third row are just disappointing. Armor barely polished but still reflecting light, hell a chip here and there as well. Weapon is a sad story, doesn't look physically able and Manes are a mess but still neat enough to pass off as normal if you aren't looking for it, unfortunately for them, we are.

The fourth row is quite a sorry sight. Equipment as a whole is barely taken care of and little effort is put into mane and coat care. I spot a bit of unfinished bread in the coat of the Lunar Guard. White on Grey is easy to see if you're looking for faults.

Another synchronized pass and... this is disgusting. I don't even hold back my grimace and pause in place. This, I think is the first of the two reserve Guard rows. I don't even want to look at the sixth row if they've just gotten worse as I've gone deeper. The very brief pause causes nervousness to wreck havoc on my senses. I don't even have to look hard to find all the faults. Armor is being pushed out by fat, armor has probably never been polished, weapon never sharpened or polished and coats and manes are just filthy.

Funnily enough my Brothers break off almost as fast as I do.

We regroup in front of them and quietly share our findings, just to build up their nerves. X and Scrapper found nearly the exact same thing I did. Impressive at first, gets worse the further you go in and the reserves are absolutely disgusting. We about what we should say and who should as we all immediately failed them the moment we walked past the front anyway.

We break off from each other wearing neutral looks but I can tell how they really feel. They're giddily laughing on the inside. The Bearers and Princesses see this and anticipation bleeds off their forms.

"So? Are they up to your standards?" Luna asks X, excitement laced heavily in her voice.

"Our standards?" X parrots. Getting a nod from both Princesses He continues. "The higher ranking Guards and front ones do with uniform, I can't say anything when it comes to combat prowess when they're pretending to be statues" He informs them, I feel relief wash through the Guards and pride take over the Princesses. 'This'll hurt' I think giddily.

"Every Guard behind them though" The nervousness returns full force. "Are disgusting" We all declare. At the same time. I really like doing this synchronized stuff. Really gets reactions, like this outrage.

The Guards all begin to argue, destroying the discipline I thought they at least possessed. They are all silenced as Celestia holds up one hoof. "Explain" She demands. Guess she thought they were up to par.

X speaks up, more versed in this stuff than Scrap and I. "The front Guards and higher ranks are up to your standards yes. But we don't have uniform requirements, if you saw where we came from you'd understand why. As I said the Guards behind the front are disgusting. The second row you can overlook. But beyond them? Pitiful. Hell we come from a shit hole and we're often better maintained even when we've been on duty for a solid week, than the fifth and sixth! If that's the uniform state of your best detachment, don't even ask us to look at the others" He explains firmly. Ohhh his business face, don't see that often outside of scavenging.

The other Solar Guard speaks up this time. "You dare insult my stallions?" He challenges while trotting forward. Why are they so temperamental? They don't keep up with standards they cop the consequences. I'm a slob and even I KNOW THAT!

"Yes I do, you weren't spoken too either, back to position" X commands without even looking away from Celestia. At least this guy catches on and does as told without backtalk. Doesn't keep the anger off his face though.

Celestia scans X's face for any doubt or humor or anything to show he isn't serious.
She finds no such sign.

"Guards into the Town Hall" She commands, no emotion in her voice.

They look like they want to argue or make an excuse but remain silent and fall into formation, marching into the Town Hall as instructed. Shame and anger fills my mouth, bitter it tastes.

The Princesses request that we enter the Town Hall when we're ready to test combat performance. Leaving us with six stunned Element Bearers.

"That. Was. AWESOME!" Rainbow cheers a little scratchier than usual. "They way you went onto the next pair AT THE SAME TIME and how you told off those officers and how you basically insulted them IN FRONT OF THE PRINCESSES!" She goes on. Getting similar responses from the others, Twilight remains silent and in place however, expression hardening, and quickly.

"Why did you disgrace my brother?!?" She demands, but we just look at her. 'Is she serious? I understand protecting those close to you but he asked for that' I think to myself.

"And who is your brother?" Scrapper asks her.

"His name is Shining Armor" She supplies unhelpfully.

"*Sigh* Where was he and what rank is he Twilight?" Scrapper asks instead.

"He's the Guard Captain and he was at the front left" She lost all weight the argument could have held as soon as the words 'Guard Captain' passed her lips.

"Twilight a Captain in charge of the troops he commands right?" X asks her, receiving a nod, he continues. "The state of his troops are the Captains concern right?" This time getting a slower nod. "The armor of the reserve Guards was a disgrace, never polished, bordering on disrepair and the way the armor was actually PUSHED AWAY from their bodies shows they put on a lot of weight from when they first donned the armor. I don't want to even start with the spears" X droned out. Twilight didn't catch a certain memo though.

"What does that have anything to do with my brother??" Silly Twilight. You may be smart but sometimes I question your apparent genius.

"I'd say a unit is only as strong as it's weakest link but seeing how you didn't get my point I'll just tell you. I asked if the Captain is in charge of the state of his troops, you confirmed me, and the state of his Guards reflects his quality of command and even authority. Which is dog shit" This shocks Twilight because *Gasp* it makes sense! Big shocker there.

"B-but he sends me letters that he's doing well" Yet she still attempt to argue.

"Twilight don't be so naive. What he says is true and what is fact can be two VERY different things. If I told you I was secretly a mare what would you say?" Silence. "I thought so, I'm sorry for arguing with you but you need to see this. The Princess asked us to inspect them, so we did. Part of inspecting is looking for what is wrong and reprimanding the troops for what you find. He is your brother and these are his troops, I know this now Twilight. But if I go in there and the Princess tells me to beat the shit out of them. I'll make them eat through a tube" He finishes coldly and trots away from her. 'They were getting along so well too' I thought. But friend or not, she needs to see that not everything is happy-go-lucky. I don't even look at them as I turn to follow X, Scrapper doing the same, But I don't need to see their faces to know how they feel. Another reason this emotion sensor is a curse disguised as a blessing. All I taste from them while trotting away, is sadness, Not even an ounce of the friendship I once felt.

Author's Note

Wasn't expecting to churn this out so quickly. Also wasn't expecting to write an inspection section, especially when it's conducted by these little remnants of mine. But that's the way I felt so that's the way the cookie crumbles. I'll put their loadouts in the authors notes in a future chapter for those that know the game. Plus knowing what they have, I've written the loadouts down before I even started this fic, but seeing no way to fully present them is driving me crazy!!